It is not altogether easy for us to comprehend the divine being, God. We make a tremendous mistake if we think that God is much like us. We should not think that he feels the same way that I feel about things. Man often begins his points of comparison to God with himself. We should, rather, begin with Scripture and not with ourselves.

"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:6-8.)

God is not like man. Our ways and thoughts are different from His. His thoughts and ways are higher than ours as the heavens are above the earth.

Many of the divine attributes of God seem to be contradictory. Since God is all knowing, ever present, all powerful, etc, these "omni-s" seem to stretch too far in opposite directions at times. None seems to be more at odds than his goodness and severity. How can God be both good and severe? Paul admonished us to observe both of these traits of God.

"Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity of God. On them which fell, severity, but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness. Otherwise, thou also shalt be cut off." (Rom. 11:22.)

It is true that God is everywhere in Scripture described as good. He is good in every way that we might think. He is good toward man and the whole creation.

The creation, day by day, was declared to be good. (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25.) The Psalmist declared the goodness of God.

"Good and upright is the Lord; therefore, he will teach sinners in the way." (25:8.) "Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart." (73:1.) "For the Lord is good and his mercy is everlasting and his truth endures to all generations." (100:5.) "The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works." (145:9.)

"And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? None is good, save one, that is, God." (Luke 18:18-19.)

"Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God, but he that doeth evil hath not seen God." (3 John 11.) "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17.)

But Paul reminded us that we should behold both God’s goodness and severity. When I looked at this again this week, I wanted to see from Scripture when God’s goodness turned to severity. That is a crucial point. God is not always patient and good to man. When is He severe and why?

The Bible warns individuals, nations and churches about the wrath of Almighty God. The prophet Nahum warned Nineveh before it was destroyed. This same city was spared when Jonah finally arrived preaching to them. From the king down to the servants, all repented. Now God will not spare them any longer. The Assyrians will fall. Nahum wrote,

"God is jealous and the Lord revenges. The Lord revenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries and he reserves wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord hath his way in the storm and the clouds are the dust of his feet. . . . Who can stand before his indignation? . . . The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble, and he knows them that trust in him." (Nahum 1:2-7.)

We should note that God is extraordinarily patient with man. He is long-suffering. Some mistake his patience as being slack, but it is not so.

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to usward not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9.)

But what causes God to turn from being patient, longsuffering and good to lost man? What causes God to become severe and pour out his wrath? Just as children push their parents to the limits, so does lost man push the limits with God. But where are those limits? How do we know when we have tread over those sacred boundaries and stirred the wrath of God? Notice some in Scripture, when God no longer was longsuffering.

#1: When A Specific Command Is Disobeyed

The judgment against Adam and Eve was severe. It is one of the most far reaching judgments in Scripture. It affected everyone born afterwards. What happened? Why was such wrath poured out on the entire creation? It happened because a specific command was given, a warning was issued about the consequences, and man proceeded anyway.

"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shalt not eat of it. For in the day that you eat thereof you shalt surely die." (Gen. 2:16-17.)

This command was given before Eve was created. Later in the Garden, in conversation with Satan, it is evident that Eve understood.

"And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. And the serpent said unto the woman, you shall not surely die." (Gen. 3:2-4.) God said that they would; Satan said no. Adam and Eve both understood what God said. They disobeyed.

We should understand that God’s wrath is kindled when a specific command is given, when the consequences are clearly given and man disobeys anyway. The Bible records that the Pharisees, in refusing John’s baptism, had "rejected the counsel of God against themselves." This is, in effect, what God had counseled them to do for their salvation. They rejected it. (Luke 7:29-30.) It is always serious when we know what the Bible says about God’s will and we reply, I don’t agree with that. I have problems with that. James wrote, "He that knows to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin." (4:17.)

#2: When the Cup of Iniquity is Full

"For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and he pours out from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs." (Psalm 75:8, ESV.) Jehovah’s cup of intoxication, the burning of anger and intoxicating, fiery wine is the judgment of wrath which is meted out to sinners and given them to endure to the end.

"And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." (Gen. 15:16, ESV.) God judges man when the cup of iniquity is full.

"And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man." (Gen. 6:3.) "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man, beast, and the creeping things and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them." (Gen. 6:5-7.)

What made God sorry that he had even made man on the earth? It was the sinful thoughts and deeds of man. Man had filled his cup full and overflowing with sin.

#3: When God Sees That Man Is Unrepentant

When Paul explained the sins of the Gentile world in Romans, he repeatedly said that "God gave them up" and "God gave them over." (1:24, 26, 28.) There is a point in the sinfulness of man that God gives up on man and allows him to pursue his sin unto destruction.

"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections. . . God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient." (Romans 1:21-29.)

Who hardened old Pharaoh’s heart? The Bible says that God did. (Exodus 7:3.) It also says that Pharaoh did. (Exodus 8:32.) The truth is that both did. (Exodus 7-10.) God hardens a man’s heart when man refuses to do God’s will. God did not harden David’s heart. Why? Because David’s heart was different from Pharaoh’s heart. There is time when God gives up on unrepentant man. God’s spirit will not always strive with man. There is a line even before man’s death that man can cross and God will reject that person.

#4: When the Whole Church Stands In Jeopardy

The story of Ananias and Sapphira is a shocking one. When that event occurred, Luke recorded that "great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things." (Acts 5:11.) I do not know why such a severe judgment was brought against this husband and wife. Their sin was regarded as serious. Peter said that they "lied against the Holy Spirit." (5:3.) Also, they "hast not lied unto men, but unto God." (5:4.) And, they "tempted the Spirit of the Lord." (5:9.)

Their original desire to sell some land and give some of the money to the church was a generous and good thing. But they wanted their gift to appear greater than it was. Both Ananias and Sapphira agreed to tell this lie to the apostles. Perhaps, they were carried away with the gift of Barnabas. (4:36-37.) They wanted to be like him, but they were not.

Lying to the Holy Spirit has been a subject of much discussion. Some possibilities are: a) the Holy Spirit which dwelt in the church, b) the Spirit that dwelt in the apostles, or c) the Spirit that dwelt in them. If Ananias and Sapphira understood that the apostles were guided in their work and teaching by the Spirit, then they should have known better than thinking that they could lie to the apostles. It was equivalent to lying directly to the Holy Spirit and God. The benevolent work of the church stood in jeopardy by their sinful deed. The attention of the whole church would have been misdirected. Whatever was the exact reason, they crossed a line and God judged them.

#5: When There Are No Plans To Obey

"Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." (Heb. 4:13.)

"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." (Proverbs 15:3.)

"If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hides not from thee, but the night shines as the day. The darkness and the light are alike unto thee." (Psalm 139:11-12.)

"The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? I the Lord search the heart; I try the reins, even to give to every man according to the fruit of his doing." (Jeremiah 17:9-10.)

Have you ever wondered why God did not bring a severe judgment against the prodigal son? (Luke 15.) The father was tender and patient and received his son back. The father knew his heart and waited for him to come to himself. God did not harden his heart or take his life away in his disobedience. Even the elder brother did not stir the anger of his father. God is likewise patient waiting for us to come to ourselves.